THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN

THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

I just finished The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. It is a novel, but it is based off of the true story of Bella da Costa Greene, whose actual name was Belle Marion Greener. Greene was the personal librarian of J.P. Morgan. She built and catalogued the amazing collection of rare books and manuscripts of the Pierpont Morgan Library. Why is this so amazing? She was a woman, first of all, in a man's world, and secondly, she was a light-skinned African American. She hid that from the world by changing her name and claiming to have some Portuguese blood in her. While this story is amazing, there were parts I skipped over.

HEADS UP- J.P. Morgan's daughter Anne was rumored to be gay. Her relationships are discussed but not shown. Bella da Costa Greene committed herself to never marrying in case she had a child that would have dark skin. She did, however, wind up in a relationship with Bernard Bernstein who was married. Bernstein and his wife had an "open marriage" policy. There are a couple bedroom scenes. Greene ends up pregnant and has an abortion. I researched each of these and it is possible that each is true.